


Apple Tree

by Diary



Series: Where the Apple Falls [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Canon Character of Color, Canon Disabled Character, Dreams, F/M, Family, Flashbacks, Friendship/Love, Late Night Conversations, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Minor Chris Argent/Victoria Argent, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Pregnancy, Pregnant Kate Argent, Romance, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 05:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6272353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. The rest of the Argents arrive in town. WIP.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

“Ms McCall!”

Melissa looks up to see Victoria Argent approaching.

“Mrs Argent,” she greets. “I’m so sorry about all this. None of this is any of my business, but I want to assure you my son and I didn’t know that you and your husband didn’t know.”

“Kate had her reasons. Is she doing okay? May I see her?”

Sighing, Melissa rubs her head. “Again, none of this is any of my business. I’m sorry, but Kate made it clear she didn’t want to see you or your husband, and- it’s her right.”

Victoria’s lips thin even more. “Can you, at least, tell me if she’s okay?”

“She’s stable. We want to keep her for a few more days.”

“I’m not asking you for confidential information. Is there any way you can tell me how she’s doing emotionally?”

“Your sister-in-law is very strong,” Melissa answers. “All things considered, she seems to be taking things remarkably well.”

“Thank you. My cell phone isn’t charged. Do hospitals still have payphones? I need to call Chris.”

“Come with me,” Melissa says. “You can use the phone in the doctor’s lounge.”

“Thank you.”

…

In the forest, a scream alerts the hunters to one of the traps being activated.

When they get in sight, Chris sees a yellow-eyed werewolf raising her claws.

“You’re not one of the Hales,” he says.

Pausing, she looks over. “Not one of the Hales,” she agrees. “Just an omega. Have to leave, now.”

Something about her voice is familiar.

Edging closer, he asks, “What’s your name?”

“Maddie,” she answers.

_911, what’s your emergency?_

_Not me. She drank juice, and it had something bad. It’s too early for her to have the baby._

_There’s a pregnant woman in need of assistance?_

_Yes._

_What’s the address?_

_Hale house. Don’t know the address. In the woods, we are._

_I’m sending help. Will you me tell your name and your relationship to the victim?_

_Maddie. Just Maddie. Can you talk?_

_The victim?_

_Named Kate, she is. Eyes are glassy, but still breathing, heart rate a little slow. Can’t risk seeing if she’s in pain._

Motioning for the others to stand back, he holds up his hands. “Maddie, I’m going to cut you down. Okay?”

“Why?” She extends her claws towards him.

“Because,” he carefully steps around them, “I’m Chris Argent, and you helped my sister, Kate. I heard the 911 call.”

She wobbles but regains her footing.

“How did you get into the house without setting off the alarms?”

She looks at him. “Alarms?”

“Was the security system not set?”

“They have a security system?”

Recognising talking to her is a losing battle, he says, “Never mind. Thank you for what you did.”

“Nicer than your father, you are.”

He grabs her wrist. “My father? You know him?”

Pulling away, she nods. “Not nice. Don’t like him. He hurt me. Not like this,” she says with a gesture towards the trap. “Worse.”

Before he can ask, his cell phone vibrates, and she leaps up onto a tree and disappears.

…

After getting rid of Melissa, Victoria walks through the hospital, peeks inside rooms, and looks at the charts in the doors.

When she finds Kate’s room, she looks in to see a closed-eye Derek Hale slumped in a chair and holding a sleeping Kate’s hand with both of his.

“Are you taking her pain?”

 …

Opening his eyes, Derek looks over and reflects Kate is right. Her sister-in-law does resemble a vulture in many ways.

He lets go. “No,” he answers. “This is more for me than her.”

She nods. “May I speak to you outside?”

Reaching over, he moves the hair out of Kate’s face and hesitates before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

He walks over, steps outside, and closes the door.

…

After they sit on an outside bench, he tells her, “I’m sorry this all happened right after your birthday.”

“Thank you.”

He nods.

“How is she? And don’t,” Victoria adds, “say she’s strong. I’ve known her longer than you or any of the doctors here have. I know that. How is she?”

“She’s scared and confused,” he answers. “I’ll feel better when the anger comes.”

“Why didn’t she want us to know?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Is she planning to marry you?”

He gives her a confused look.

“I can’t imagine you haven’t, at least, broached the subject. Fathers tend to have more rights if they’re married to-”

“Mrs Argent, you think I’m the father?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No,” he answers. “Look- I’m sure Chris and maybe Allison have told you about some of the things I’ve said and done, but Kate has never seen me as anything deeper than a friend. There’s never been anything between her and me. As for the man, I don’t know who he is. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding the conception, or whether he knows. In all honesty, I don’t even know if Kate knows who he is.”

“She’s been living in your house for how long?”

When he starts to answer, she informs him, “That was rhetorical.”

“Your daughter is mostly responsible for Kate staying with me.” He chuckles. “I always thought no one could intimidate Kate, and then, I met Allison.”

Nodding, she chuckles, too. “Yes. I was in the same position, once.”

…

Kate wakes up to see Chris reading.

She wonders if she should pretend to be asleep or try to sneak out past him.

“Hello, Kate.”

“Hey."

“When were you planning to tell us?”

“It’s none of your damn business.”

“My niece or nephew-”

“Niece,” she says. “And speaking of, I remember when you decided I couldn’t be a part of Allison’s life. I remember everything I had to do just to get to see her. If you’d had your way, I never would have been a part of her life.”

“You were violent, irrational, and involved in I don’t know what. You wanted to indoctrinate her into a full-out battle against all werewolves.”

Wincing, she replies, “You know what? Fine. But let’s talk about the one line I never crossed. Allison doesn’t know about that woman from Fiji. She doesn’t know about that werewolf in Colorado. She doesn’t know that her conservative dad once did hardcore drugs, went through a state of permanent drunkenness, or slept with so many women and never got tested before his underage sister finally tazed his ass, locked him in the trunk of her car, and forced him into a free clinic.”

“I’ve never claimed to have a perfect past.”

“No, but you sure as hell like to bring up my imperfect past,” she retorts. “Back then, I wouldn’t have trusted you with my wallet, let alone to have my back. But you cleaned up, became a boring, respectable family man, and I let you be that.” Sighing, she says, “I’m never going to be that clean. I’m still going to make worse mistakes than you ever have. That doesn’t mean I’m going to make a bad mom. It doesn’t mean you have a right to turn my kid against me, dictate how I raise her, or worse, try to take her from me.”

“Do you really think I’d do something like that?”

She rolls her eyes. “Look, you were there for me the last time I was pregnant, and I’m grateful for that. But aside from that, when have you been there for me for anything besides hunting? Hell, sometimes, you even refused to be there for that.”

“When have you ever given me the opportunity? For years, it was a shot in the dark whether you’d answer my calls or emails, and if something important was going, there was a slight chance you’d mention something to Allison, who might mention it to me or Victoria.”

“When we thought Gerard was dead,” she answers. “I was a mess, and I’m honestly glad you kept Allison away. But you completely choose her and Victoria over me. Do you remember that one night when I called you in honest-to-God tears? I wasn’t asking to see Allison or wanting to go after any werewolves. I just- I needed you to be my big brother and show me that you loved me. Do you remember what you said, Christopher?”

He lets out an almost choked sound. “Yes.”

“In all those years of me ignoring your calls and emails, you never left a message trying to- I meant what I said, Chris. Allison is grown, and she can see me as much or as little as she likes. You’re my brother, and I’d give my life for you, but until babies and the bite came into the mix, you were happy for me to just be the screw up sister you could shrug your shoulders in embarrassment and say, ‘Who knows? I tried calling, but it’s always a shot in the dark’.” Shaking her head, she says, “You have your family, and pretty soon, I’ll have mine. Allison can be both of ours, if she wants.”

He walks out.

…

He’s back the next day. “I want you to do me a favour and watch this."

She looks down at the DVD. “How did you manage to get this back? I’m pretty sure I left it in a suitcase in Derek’s guestroom.”

“I went to his house and asked if he would look for it. He refused, but his sister stood at the top of the stairs and threw it at me.”

“Wonderful.”

“Look, I’m not denying there haven’t been times I’ve been a crap brother, and if you refuse to let me a part of your and your baby’s life, I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about that. However, I’m willing to bet I have some favour I can cash, and this is me cashing it. Please, just watch this.”

“Fine,” Kate agrees. “Now, leave before Derek or the others show up.”

…

“I don’t see why we’re recording this,” Gerard’s voice says as she and Chris come into focus.

In the background, she’s a little kid, dressed in a fluffy pink dress with matching bloomers, trying to catch a butterfly.

“Because, this is what normal families do,” Chris says. “I want her to remember not everything is about hunting. Kate, come over here.”

She comes over to her new bike and declares, “I want the extra wheels.”

“Be-”

“Dad,” Chris warns. Leaning down, he takes her hands into his. “Kate, you know how you always want to ride my motorcycle?”

“And you never let me,” she pouts.

“I’ve told you that you can ride it when you’re older. But it comes in steps, okay? You know how to ride a bike with four wheels. Now, you need to learn how to ride one with two. When you’re older, that can include a motorcycle.”

“Okay,” she agrees.

Present her taps her fingers as she watches Chris help her on the bike and give her advice.

At one point, she seems to get the hang of it, but when Chris turns around, she crashes right into a tree.

He’s kneeling beside her before either present or past her can even process what happened.

“I never fell off with the extra wheels.” She angrily wipes tears away.

Chris glares at the camera, and present day Kate realises he’s making sure Gerard doesn’t say anything.

Their dad never did like it when she cried.

Checking her legs, hands, and elbows, he tells her, “I never had training wheels. And the first I tried to ride a bike, I almost broke my leg.”

She looks sceptically between him and Gerard.

“It’s true. Gerard, tell her about that.”

“Yes, that’s true,” a bored-sounding Gerard agrees.

Chris helps her stand. “You handled the fall much better than I did, Kate. Want to try again?”

“No.”

“What about, if you can make it around the block, I’ll take you to get some ice-cream?”

“Okay,” she agrees.

As she tries to make it around the block, Gerard says, “She shouldn’t be bribed into giving something her best. It creates spoiled, weak children.”

“With that attitude, you’re lucky you’ve yet to end up with a dead child,” Chris retorts. “Children can be taught with kindness and patience.”

“You do realise, technically, you are still underage, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I haven’t been a kid since I was younger than her,” Chris answers.

She makes around the block, jumps off, and runs over. “Chris! I did it! Are you proud of me?”

Lifting her up, he spins her around. “Always,” he answers before kissing her. “And I hope you’ll always be proud of me.”

The camera shuts off, and Kate’s attempt to keep from crying holds for about ten seconds.

…

Kate doesn’t understand how her ankles and feet can hurt worse than they ever have when she’s been out of bed precisely twice and each time was under fifteen minutes.

As Derek’s rubbing them, he tells her, “I talked to Cora.”

“About what?”

“The guava juice.”

Sighing, she says, “You probably shouldn’t have. I had my suspicions, too, but from what I’ve seen, your sister is direct. And she wouldn’t risk you or the others.”

“She’s leaving for South American. We have relatives there.”

“Oh, no,” she mutters. “Look, get her to talk to me. I can straighten things out.”

At his look, she says, “One way or another.”

“No."

She looks at him in surprise, and he fidgets. “I don’t want her to go, but I think, even if this hadn’t happened, she might have. In less than two months, she lost her mother, sister, and uncle. The rest of our family in America only comes around on special occasions. Besides needing a proper pack, part of the reason I choose Isaac, Erica, and Boyd was because I thought they’d be good for her. And they have been, but-”

“But,” she prompts.

“But even before we lost the others, Cora wasn’t exactly happy.”

He looks miserable, and Kate finds herself wondering if she eventually causes misery to everyone she cares about.

Maybe, she muses, that would explain what went wrong with Chris.

Depressive thoughts, another part of her realises. Keep vigilant, Kate. You don’t want to find yourself in the position you were in last time.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not the one losing a sister.”

“I’m not losing her. I’m going to give her space, but I’m also going to call every night. Kate,” he looks at her moment. “If you’re blaming yourself-”

“I’m not exactly blaming myself,” she says. “I’m just-”

There’s a knock on the door, and it opens to reveal Chris.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Derek tells her.

She nods, and he sets her ankle down and reaches over to squeeze her hand.

Once he’s gone, Chris takes his place. “Victoria thought he was the father.”

“Of course, she did,” Kate says. “And even though she hates werewolves just as much as I used to, she’d believe Derek’s denial before she’d believe mine.”

“How it’s been, living with him?”

She simply looks at him.

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s been going on in your life for the past few months,” he says.

She tries to adjust herself on the bed. “I was selling family heirlooms so that I could set up a decent-sized trust fund for the baby. I’ve been doing a little bit of hunting, but nothing big. Derek and Allison both wanted me to crash at his place. He refuses to let me pay rent or contribute to the groceries or bills. I hide money around the house and in his wallet. Usually, the money ends up back in my stuff, but there’s occasions I manage to sneak some in. It’s kind of like a game between me and them.”

“We’re moving here,” he says. “Kate, I promise, I won’t try to interfere with you and the baby once she’s born. Please, come live with us.”

She scoffs. “You moving here is a good reason for me to be on the next bus out of town. Never mind how Allison must feel about her parents moving into the town where she and her boyfriend are living.”

“She was happy when we told her. Something is after you. We can protect you in ways Derek can’t. And- I should have been there for you in the past. I’m not denying that I’ve screwed up. But do you really think denying Victoria and I access to the baby- to you, is going to make anything better?”

“No,” she admits.

“We’ve bought a house,” he continues. “It has five bedrooms and four bathrooms. If you want it, I have a full-time position for you in my consulting firm. Once the baby’s born, if you want to move out, I won’t object. But if you don’t, you’re welcome to stay. If you want a nursery for the baby, we can help set it up.”

“I’ll think about it. Right now, I’d kill for a soda. I don’t know why I’ve been craving caffeine so much, but the doctor said, as long as I don’t exceed 150 mg a day, it should be fine.”

“Cherry vanilla?”

“Please,” she says.

Giving her a small smile, he nods and leaves.

After a moment, Derek slips in.

“What do you think, Hale?”

“Can he and his wife protect you in ways that we can’t?”

“I’m not sure,” she answers. “From werewolves, yeah, obviously. From whatever and whoever in the hell’s after me, I don’t know.”

“I can fight against werewolves.”

“Yeah, but Chris has been trained all his life to kill them.”

“Good point.”

Taking a breath, she says, “I need you to keep an eye on me. I- I want to trust my brother. But since our relationship has consistently been a complicated mess of antagonistic, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Okay,” he agrees.

…

Chris comes back with a soda and straw.

“My hero,” Kate says. When he sits down, she continues, “I’ve thought about it, and I could use the money. I could probably use a nursery, too. But the Hales are my friends, Chris. I can respect a no sleepover rule, but if one of them comes over, I expect them to be treated like guests.”

He nods. “Okay."

“Okay,” she echoes.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Chris leans over and kisses her. “Thank you.”


	2. Chapter 2

_After three days, he comes back to school._

_He looks like a mess._

_“Where have you been, kid?”_

_“Waiting,” he answers with a yawn._

_“Waiting for what?”_

_“Laura.”_

_“Why were you waiting for Laura?”_

_Repeatedly blinking, he tells her, “Hunters. They went after a berserker, and she got caught in the crossfire.”_

_“There was a berserker here?”_

_His head jerks. “It came from a nearby town.”_

_“And is Laura okay, now?”_

_He nods. “Sleeping.”_

_“What about the hunters?”_

_He tilts his head. “Think they’re still there. Only allowed to leave home during light.”_

_“You’re coming with me,” she declares._

_…_

_They get to the Hale house, and she goes around to open his door. Undoing his seatbelt and holding out her hand, she says, “C’mon, sweetheart.”_

_He takes her hand, and she leads him up to the house._

_Talia answers the door. “Derek. Miss Argent.”_

_“This is absolutely none of my business,” she prefaces, “but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your kid at home until the hunters are gone. And until he gets some proper sleep.”_

_Reaching over, Talia pulls Derek inside. “Derek, go lay down. You can see Miss Argent soon.”_

_Once he’s out of sight, Talia asks, “Would you like to come in, Miss Argent?”_

_“No,. “ need to get back to school.”_

_“Miss Argent, would you mind telling me why you’re angry? If you didn’t know about the hunters, I was unaware.”_

_Looking around, she says, “Your son has been through enough crap. I can understand you not calling me to track down Laura and bring her home, but why would you send him or any of the others to school right now? Trust me, hunters don’t always care about things like daylight and public places.”_

_Talia gives her thoughtful look. “I didn’t want Derek to go, but he missed you.”_

_“Be a damn parent,” she orders. “Just because a kid misses something at school doesn’t mean they should go when it’s dangerous for them. Next time, just tell him to call me. I can listen to his anti-McCarthyism rants and babbling about how some translation of an ancient Latin book is wrong over the phone.”_

...

A soft knock on the door wakes Kate up.

“Come in,” she says.

Allison walks over. “Hey.” She sets a book on the nightstand. “How are you doing?”

“Sweetie, stop worrying,” she orders. “The doctors gave me a clean bill of health.”

“Mom made dinner. If you’re not up to coming down, I can bring-”

“It’s good to know you listen,” she teases.

…

When Kate sits down, Victoria says, “Kate, I was looking at cribs-”

“No,” Kate snaps.

Everyone freezes, and she sighs. “Please, don’t take that personally. I’ve been arguing with Derek about that a lot lately. The baby isn’t sleeping in a crib.”

“He still hasn’t given up on that,” Allison inquires.

“No. He keeps feeding me statistics,” she grumbles.

“Technically, he’s-”

“Sweetheart, what did we agree about your contribution?”

“Right. Sweden.”

“Switzerland,” Chris corrects. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your objection to a crib?”

“They remind me of cages,” Kate answers. “And I don’t care how ridiculous that sounds or the benefits it might provide.”

“Are you planning on co-sleeping, or should I look at bassinets,” Victoria inquires. “How do you feel about playpens?”

“Playpens are fine,” Kate says. “The baby may sleep in my room, but I’m not co-sleeping. And I don’t really know anything about bassinets.”

“Actually,” Victoria tells her, “studies have shown it’s often better for young babies to sleep in a bassinet than in a crib. I’ll show you some pictures later.”

“Sounds good. So, Chris. About that job you offered me?”

…

She looks at the pictures. “No white.”

Victoria nods.

Kate realises how absurd she’s being.

“Okay, this obviously isn’t working. Just find something besides a crib. That you know, obviously, is safe. I’m not sure where all these crazy standards are coming from.”

“Motherhood,” Victoria responds. “This obviously is working, Kate. Once Allison got to two, she started making her own decisions about clothes and decorations, but until then, it was up to me. Babies do better when their parents put effort into creating an environment for them.”

“Yeah, my teacher mentioned something about that.”

“Teacher,” Chris asks.

“Once I decided to keep the baby, I started dropping in on parenting classes. “When I moved here, I enrolled in one. That’s why I need Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings off.”

“Most of them are very nice,” Allison says.

Seeing the look on her face, Kate says, “She’s a religious nutjob, honey. And since you intimidated her, she hasn’t said one word to me.”

“You’ve been going with her,” Chris asks.

“No,” Allison answers.

“I like to walk there,” Kate says, “but whenever I’m particularly nauseous or it’s rainy, she or Derek give me rides.”

Setting more pictures on Kate’s lap, Victoria inquires, “When it comes to the nausea, have you tried-”

The doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it,” Chris says.

…

He opens the door to find Derek Hale.

“Allison called me,” Derek says. He holds up a wallet. “This is hers.”

Allison appears and takes it before Chris can. “Oh, thank you,” she says. “Would you like to come in?”

Before Derek can respond, she reaches over and pulls him in. “Aunt Kate, I left a textbook in your room. Would it be okay if I took Derek up there?”

“You could-”

“Chris, be quiet,” Kate orders. Standing up, she says, “That’s fine, honey. The three of us will go.”

…

“Alright, what’s going on,” Kate demands.

“Every night, you and Derek talk until you fall asleep. I think that’s good for you and the baby,” Allison declares.

“Allison."

“He can either come here willingly and you can bring him up here, or every day, my wallet will end up in his possession, and I’ll make scenes in front of Mom and Dad.”

Kate is both impressed and unnerved by this new side to her niece.

“You don’t even live here,” she protests.

“And?”

“I can go,” Derek offers.

“No,” she sighs. “I need to lay down, anyways. Allison, go do damage control with your mom and dad.”

Once Allison is gone, Kate sits and looks over at the textbook. “French?”

Sitting, he picks up her feet. “We’re studying Rimbaud.”

“Do you like him?”

He nods. “He’s one of my favourites.”

“Of French poets or in general?”

“Right now, in general."

“I’m assuming he’s dead. What did he write about?”

“He died in 1891. The second question is more complicated. His work has been heavily scrutinised by…”

She feels her body relaxing.

…

“That’s why I identify with it so strongly,” Derek says.

Kate completely enters REM sleep.

He adjusts her covers, checks the windows, turns on the TV, and adjusts the settings.

…

Downstairs, Chris is typing while Allison reads and Victoria cuts pictures out of magazines and organises them in piles.

When Derek comes down, Chris and Allison both stand.

“She’s asleep,” Derek tells Allison.

She nods.

“Derek,” Chris says.

Allison and Derek both turn towards him.

“Since whatever’s after Kate hasn’t gone after anyone else, she hasn’t exerted much effort into finding it. That’s probably best for her and the baby. However, I am going to focus on it. If I know my daughter, she’s been focused on it, too. So have you. I’m assuming she’s been working with you and your betas. I’ve been working with other hunters. I haven’t found anything substantial, yet.”

“Neither have we,” Allison says.

“Beyond the treaty my family has with your pack, you, Allison, my wife, and I all personally want to protect Kate. We all care very deeply about her. I’m sure your betas do, too. Why don’t we officially work together?”

Giving him a smile, Allison kisses Chris on the cheek and turns to look at Derek.

“Mrs Argent?” Derek turns to look at where Victoria has stood up.

Her smile smile is tight. “You’re welcome to come by every night. However, I feel you should know you’ve lost the battle when it comes to the baby having a crib.”

He nods.

Chris extends his hand.

Reaching over, Derek shakes it.

“Would you care to stay the night,” Victoria asks. “You’d have to take the couch, but we have extra blankets and pillows.”

Allison starts to say something, but Derek answers, “No, thank you. I need to get home right now. But when would be a good time for us to meet?”


	3. Chapter 3

Melissa comes home at 2:34 in the morning, and instead of finding Allison curled up in bed with Scott, she finds her in the guestroom working on her laptop.

When Allison first moved in, Chris Argent made a big deal about how his daughter would most assuredly be sleeping in the guestroom.

She had nodded politely, then, later told Scott there’d be hell to pay if she was woken up by any sort of noise, showed him a box of condoms in the bathroom, and told him the box always stayed in the cabinet until it was empty, and as soon as it was empty, it was to be thrown away. It would be replaced within two days, she promised him.

Although married and working, she was technically a teenage mother, and while she envies those who end up with their first loves, she’s not even sure if her ex-husband was her really her first love or if she was just too desperate for adulthood and for a family. She’s not sure if, despite her own beliefs on the subject, she didn’t hold onto her mother’s teachings of sex outside marriage being sinful in ways she didn’t realise.

She wasn’t going to let this happen to her son.

When he first started going through puberty, she sent him and Stiles off to something, and she and Sheriff Stilinski spent the day putting locks on Scott’s door. She’d try to force the door open, and if she couldn’t do it within thirty seconds, the lock was discarded.

She wanted him to have plenty of privacy, but if she ever needed to get into the room for an emergency, she was going to be able to.

Lately, Allison and Scott have been somewhat distant, and even though she knows first loves don’t often end up staying together, the thought of Scott and Allison parting is a sad one.

“Are you okay, sweetie?”

Blinking, Allison yawns. “Yeah,” she answers. “I couldn’t sleep, and I thought I’d do some research for something my family’s working on.”

“Okay. Do you need anything?”

“No, thank you, Melissa,” Allison answers. “Do you?”

“Nope, I ate and showered at the hospital. I’m going to go crash.”

…

Once Melissa is gone, Allison looks back down at the attendance records Erica had told her how to hack and the spreadsheet she’s set up.

So far, she’s found eighteen kids who are chronically absent, fifteen kids who were absent on the day Kate was first attacked by the kanima, eight who were absent on the day Kate drank the poisoned guava juice, and three who fit all three categories.

One is a boy named Jared, and she has him marked as doubtful. From what she’s heard about him, he’s a nervous, carsick boy. He’s a great lacrosse player, according to Scott, but he has a low tolerance for the coach’s more eccentric personality, and he's come close to having an anxiety attack in the past.

The other two are twin boys. They’re on the lacrosse team with Scott, and he’s told her their dad is a blind, single parent. She’ll look into them, but she wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t routinely skip because of their dad. 

On the day of the poisoned juice, Danielle was absent.

Allison doesn’t look forward to having to try to bring this up to Cora.

Stretching, she sighs when her eyes fall on Jackson Whittemore.

He wasn’t absent on either day and has no absences for the year.

Really, she has no reason to put him on the list.

He constantly shoves Scott and Stiles around, and he once insulted Kate when she came to pick Allison up. Thankfully, Kate didn’t hear (although, Allison knows her aunt either absolutely wouldn’t care and would probably expertly strip Jackson down with her words), but more than once, she’s found herself wanting to inflict pain on him, and she doesn’t like such violent thoughts in herself.

Deleting his name, she focuses on the others.

…

Derek is walking the forests when his senses alert him to nearby hunters, and he lets his claws appear.

There are two men. One has a crossbow aimed, and the other has a hand on his gun.

They’re a good team; their hearts beat in unison, and their breathing is synchronised.

When they come into the light, the one on the left lets go of the gun and reaches out to touch his partner’s arm. “You’re Derek Hale, aren’t you? Kate’s friend. How is she? The baby?”

The crossbow is lowered, and Derek retracts his claws. “They’re both fine. You recognise me?”

“Kate has a picture of you,” he says. “Obviously, you’ve grown quite a bit since, then,” he comments with a lick of his lips, “but anyway, I’m Juan. This is my partner, Trey.”

“Mrs Argent wants the town patrolled at all hours,” Trey says. “To make sure her sister-in-law and the baby are safe.”

“There’s another werewolf around here,” he tells them. “She’s harmless. Her name is Maddie. Chris has met her.”

“One of yours,” Juan asks.

He shakes his head. “She’s an omega, but she’s harmless. She doesn’t- when she speaks, it might give you the impression she’s unstable, but she’s not.”

“Is she the one who keeps stealing our tires,” Trey grouses to Juan.

“Stealing tires,” Derek repeats.

“Someone,” Juan says, “is stealing tires off hunter vehicles. Our motorcycles, cars, everything. We’re pretty sure a normal human couldn’t do it.”

“I’ll talk to Maddie,” he sighs.

“We better keep moving,” Trey says.

“It’s nice to have met you,” Juan tells Derek.

He nods.

…

“A forest theme,” Chris repeats.

“I like it,” Kate says. “Let’s face it, until the kid’s old enough to stay home alone, she’s going to be outside a lot, and besides, it’s kind of freeing, don’t you think? She won’t feel confined.”

“We should look into baby tents,” Victoria suggests.

“Baby tents?”

“That might be a good idea,” Chris agrees.

“They make tents for babies?”

“Um-hum.” Victoria turns the laptop towards Kate. “Allison had one when she was a baby. Of course, she kept managing to unzip it from inside.”

Kate laughs. “Good.”

“It won’t be so good if yours manages to do the same,” Chris comments.

“She didn’t start to do it until she was older,” Victoria says. “For right now, it would be a good solution. They’re big enough to appear in the periphery vision, and they’ll protect against mosquitoes and the sun.”

“I like this one.” Kate points.

“That one’s lovely, Kate. Now, about the forest theme, do you want…”

…

From outside, Gerard sits in a tree and listens.

Down below, a person walks over. “You might want to rethink your plans for the baby.”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“No. But if I were to bet, I’d place them on her.”

“She’s young and in love. A dangerous combination. They can be used so easily against her.”

“Yes, but has anyone told her that? The Hales are untouchable, and if he realises she needs to hear it, he’ll tell her in a heartbeat.”

“Or less,” Gerard mutters. 

Listening to three discuss when the best time for vaccinations are, he laughs.


	4. Chapter 4

At some kid’s party, Kate catches Cora’s eye.

Giving a head jerk, Cora goes to a bathroom.

Slipping in, Kate locks the door. “You’re a tough girl to find.”

Cora shifts.

Kate produces her Taser.

“I can still scream,” Cora challenges.

“But you won’t. My feet and back are killing me, I need to pee, and I have a pounding headache. I’ve been through worse. We’re going to talk, if I have to stand here all night.”

Cora looks at the window.

“Try it,” Kate says. “I’ll have your ass convulsing on the floor so fast you’ll feel your brain shaking around inside your head.”

“Someone will need to use the bathroom soon.”

“Pregnant woman, sweetheart,” Kate reminds her. “And again, you aren’t going to bring them into the crossfire.”

“I’ll call Derek.”

Kate holds up the cell phone she lifted off Cora. “Want to see if you can manage to take it back?”

Cora defiantly sits down on the toilet seat.

“Now, everything I say to you is going to be the truth,” Kate starts. “Pregnancy is wreaking havoc on my body, and I couldn’t manipulate my vitals if I wanted to. If I leave town, will you stay?”

Cora simply looks at her.

“The thing is,” she continues, “my baby’s going to be here soon. Without going into specifics, you aren’t the only supernatural creature I’ve pissed off. I don’t expect Derek to fight for me, but I’d feel a lot better knowing the Argent-Hale treaty was holding.”

“I didn’t do anything to the guava juice,” Cora says.

“I don’t care. If you did, we’ll call that your one free pass. If you didn’t, you don’t have to feel ashamed for screwing up what should have been an easy way to take one or both of us out. In the future, if you try to hurt the baby or me, I’ll respond.”

“And I don’t care what you do,” Cora tells her. “I’m leaving.”

“Why?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“True. What I can’t figure out is: You hate me. Whether you did anything or not, you wouldn’t mourn my death. But you’re willing to abandon your pack. You’re willing to let them have to deal with me by themselves.”

“Derek could have talked to me,” is the quiet response. “He chose to leave without warning, get you, come back without telling any of us, and track down an omega. He poised himself to kill Uncle Peter if it would keep you alive.”

“You’re seventeen, sweetheart,” Kate says. “It wasn’t very long ago that he was a teenager himself. You know, I hope we never have to find out, but I truly believe, if it came down to it, as attached as he is to me, he’d kill me if it came to a choice between the two of us.”

“I believe the opposite.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Cora? Are you in there?”

Making a face, Cora says, “I’m fine, Danielle. My stomach’s bothering me.”

“Is there anything I can, hon?”

“Could you find some ginger ale?”

“Yeah,” Danielle answers. “Are you-”

“Danielle, it’s just my stomach. I think Erica accidentally gave me something with peanuts in it.”

“Okay,” Danielle says. “Call or text if you need something.”

They listen as the footsteps fall away.

“A classmate,” Cora says. “Someone brought wolfs bane in for an art project, and I reacted. She found me, later. She thought it was a panic attack, and I just went with it.”

“And the peanuts?”

“I’m not allergic like a human would be, but they do dry out my tongue and cause digestive issues.”

“You need to stay.”

“I believe you care for Derek,” Cora says. “I believe, in certain instances, you’d die for him. Maybe you’d do for the same Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and even me. But I know you don’t know what’s best for him or them. You sure as hell don’t know what’s best for me. Every day, I fall asleep, and my mother, my big sister, and my uncle aren’t here. None of my family besides Derek is. I wake up expecting all these things that will never happen. Danielle eats lunch with me, but she has a best friend. I had one, too,” she says. “And maybe- maybe it wasn’t normal, but it was good. In South America, with family you can never get to, without all these reminders, I hope I can start over.”

Standing up, she says, “Danielle will back soon.”

Moving aside, Kate tosses the phone over.

Catching it, Cora leaves.

Kate uses the toilet, adjusts her makeup, and slips out. Looking around, she spots Cora sitting with a pretty, black girl and laughing at something on the other girl’s phone.   

…

She gets a call from Chris.

“Yes, I’m still walking around. No, I don’t know when I’ll be back,” she says.

“Are you sure-”

“Chris, I’m fine. I’ll call if I need anything. I’m just trying to map out all of this town’s oddities.”

In truth, her feet are ready to stomp on her face in protest, her legs keep shaking, she feels her heart beating unnaturally, and the stuff she’s carrying is weighing her down in ways it never has before.

She knows being out alone at night, even with her Tasers and gun, isn’t a good idea. The police, her family, and Derek still have no idea who had gotten to the juice and how. They still don’t know who the kanima or its master is. 

No one knows why anyone is after her.

There are a million possibilities, but she can’t figure out which is the most likely at the moment.

Someone lands behind her, and she draws her Taser.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t shoot my betas, again.”

“I only heard one of you." Letting go of the Taser and turning around, she adds, “Hello, Deucalion.”

“Miss Argent,” he greets. “They’re nearby.” Cocking his head, he comments, “There’s something different about you.”

“Derek didn’t tell you?”

“He told me the whole Argent clan has set up shop in this town.”

“Here.” Walking over, she guides his hand. “Be gentle:'

On cue, the baby kicks.

“Ah. A little-” He pauses.

“Girl,” she supplies. “Derek already told me.”

“I imagine she’ll be just as strong as her mother.”

“Thank you. Why is your pack in town?”

“Derek called me about the kanima.”

“Took your time in getting here,” she comments.

He looks amused. “Would you like to get something to eat, Miss Argent?”

“Sure,” she agrees.

…

They go to a café, and she remembers, _I don’t know what you’re playing at, but it would be wise to leave, now._

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” she answers. “Just a memory.”

They sit down, and once their orders have been taken, he asks, “What time did the kanima attack you?”

“I don’t know for sure,” she answers. “Why? Can they only attack at certain times?”

“The last kanima was a teenager. That isn’t to say any absent students are suspects, but-”

“It might," she says. "It was after school. Cora found me. Derek said that a kanima was the result of someone rejecting the bite but not dying. He only bit three kids. Could there be an unknown alpha in town?”

The waitress brings them their drinks.

“There could be,” Deucalion says. “Or perhaps, the kanima came from elsewhere.”

She looks down at the table.

“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you aren’t saying, Miss Argent?”

“Have you ever stolen a memory?”

“Stolen a memory,” he repeats. “You are aware an alpha taking a memory doesn’t always mean they did so without consent?”

“I don’t care. Whatever the circumstances, have you ever taken a memory?”

“Yes,” he answers. “You know about Marco?”

She nods, and then, remembers his blindness. “Yes.”

“After he attempted to kill me, I took all the secrets of my pack from him before casting him out. That’s the only time I’ve done it. Why do you ask?”

“Talia took a memory from me."

“Hmm,” is his response. “How does-”

“Please,” she interrupts, “don’t tell me you’re going down the ‘how does that make you feel’ route. I was just wondering if that was a common alpha thing or not.”

“No, it’s not. But then, Talia wasn’t a common alpha.”

She feels a sense of interest. “Oh. You know, I was wondering why you’ve done so much to help her kid.”

“Hm?”

Taking a sip of her drink, she says, “I could understand you sending us to Deaton, but this kid calls you up and says, ‘In my short time as an alpha, I’ve helped this girl from a family of hunters actually kidnap a hunter, who’s now turned into a werewolf. A blue-eyed omega, to be exact. In addition, because her life is important to me in ways that I probably can’t even explain, I want to see if an old story that might very well be nothing but a myth will work in turning her back into a human. Even though this could permanently turn her family against my pack, and even though she might kill me and any other wolf involved, would you please help me track down a dangerous alpha, get him to Beacon Hills, and then, help me hold off hunters and other members of the rival pack long enough so that I can set said omega, who, by the way, will be heavily drugged and under the influence of the full moon, loose so that, hopefully, she can kill this alpha?’”

She laughs. “I imagine the common reaction would be, ‘Are you an utter moron? Don’t do this. Think about your life, think about your choices.’ Followed by, ‘If you insist on doing this, you’re on your own. Do me a favour and, assuming you survive this, lose my number until you come to your senses.’”

“But,” she finishes, “you being in love with his mom, well, there it is, isn’t it?”

“No. I wasn’t in love with Talia. Tell me, how do you know Derek didn’t enlist my help without giving me all the details? How do you know he didn’t outright lie?”

“Because, I know him,” she answers.

Their food comes.

“As a rule, he’s honest. When he’s not honest, his face belies his words. And even beyond that, he’s the type of person who can’t control always the energy he sends out.”

“He’s lied to you before?”

She shrugs. “He’s kept things from me. I don’t know whether he’s ever crossed the line into lying.”

“And yet, you trust him with your life, your niece, and even, it seems, your child.”

“Would you just come out and say or ask whatever it is you’re trying to build to?”

“Talia told me some about you, Miss Argent. She was never quite sure about you, but her son was.”

Kate concentrates on her food.

“I wasn’t in love with Talia,” he says. “But I did love her.”

“What did she do that was so special?”

“What makes you think she did anything?”

“You remind me of Derek right now,” she answers. “I don’t quite understand what I did, and I sure as hell haven’t figured out how I did it, but I did something that made him incredibly attached to me. Even after years of having no contact with me, he still felt it.”

“Hmm.” Reaching over for the salt and pepper, he picks the pepper up, pours a tiny bit on his finger, and brings it up to his mouth. Setting it down, he picks up the salt and pours some into the palm of his hand. As he sprinkles it over his food, he asks, “You and I are both filled with hate, aren’t we?”

“Well, I am. I don’t know about you.”

“Yes,” he says. “Mine is quieter. More contained. You know, I still have nightmares about what your father did to me. Because of him, I can’t see how much Derek is like his mother. Oh, I know he is. Nevertheless, both she and her beauty are, in some ways, irretrievably lost to me. I can’t see children playing in the park as I feed the ducks or the ducks squabbling for the bread.”

“When he did this to me, I was ready to do some things that, even now, I can’t forgive myself for ever thinking about doing. Talia didn’t try to stop me. She was simply there.”

“That’s why,” he finishes, “I’m willing to help Derek with you.”

“Thanks."

He nods. “I’ve brought something. Be very careful in how you handle it.”

Digging a box out of one of his pockets and setting it down, he continues, “Inside is three vials of kanima venom. It’s been said that a kanima is immune to its own poison. Use these on a human or a werewolf, and they should experience paralysis. Hopefully, temporary.”

“Thank you.” She pockets the box.

“Even today, I hear about how much like your father you are."

“I am. I told Derek once that we might end up on different sides of the battlefield someday. I can’t say for sure that still won’t happen.”

They finish their food.

“I’ll get the tip.” She signals the waitress over. 

When the waitress arrives, however, Deucalion vetoes this. “Excuse me. I’m going to pay for my companion’s meal, but I don’t think she’ll tell me how much the ticket is. Would you be so kind?”

Despite her protests, since she can’t actually taser Deucalion in a public place and the waitress is on his side and turns out to skilled at protecting tickets from people attempting to grab it, he ends up paying.

…

The next day, Kate walks into the Hale house and realises she should have called ahead.

Derek is doing push-ups.

Not being much of a believer in holiness, she nevertheless thanks everything holy he’s not shirtless.

Unfortunately, his shirt being on doesn’t stop her from wanting to lick him and do other-

Erica walks into the living room.

“Oh, thank God,” she mutters.

Derek looks over, and because, he’s obviously a better con artist than anyone she’s ever met and is slowly pulling a long con, he switches to doing one-arm and smiles sweetly at her.

Firmly directing her attention to Erica, she greets, “Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?”

“Better,” Erica answers. “We have sealed drinks.”

“Nah, I’m good right now. So, you and Stiles?”

“I’ve decided I’ve been going about this all wrong,” Erica tells her. “I’m a werewolf, now. I need to be looking for a mate, which, probably won’t be human. They could be, but even if they are, what are the chances of me finding them in high school?”

“A mate?”

“Boyd’s sceptical of the concept, too. But I’ve made a list.”

Sitting, Kate echoes, “A list?”

Erica nods. “Obviously, someone physically strong would be nice, but that’s not a requirement. I mean, I remember how I used to be, and Scott seems like a great guy, both for Allison and in general. But intelligence- he has to be smarter than me. If we have kids, he’ll be the one to help with homework, and if I can get someone who can do taxes so that my dad doesn’t have to ours plus my mom’s, abuela’s, and all the other people he helps, that would be good.”

Flopping down, Erica continues, “Someone handy would be good. It’d be nice if he could fix the toilet at three in the morning, but provided he makes good money, that won’t be an issue. I debated the money thing, because I don’t like that whole 50s mindset of finding a rich husband. But I’m probably never going to make much working at bakeries, and I love working at bakeries, and again, I have to consider our children. So, he doesn’t have to be rich, but he has to have a steady job that makes a decent paycheque.”

“I was reading about actual wolves, and all that is basically what they look for in mates. Someone strong, smart, and a good provider. Of course, with them, it’s more about food than material things. Whoever my mate is, he doesn’t need to cook. I can be the food provider.”

Before Kate can respond, Boyd appears with a carton of strawberries. “Where do you want me to put these,” he asks Erica.

“Are those from the farmer’s market,” Erica asks with giant eyes.

He nods. “Where do you want me to put them?”

“I’ll show you,” Erica says. “Thank you so much for getting them for me.”

Isaac’s appearance saves Kate from doing anything rash.

He curls down on the floor.

“Hey." Reaching over to play with his curls, she asks, “How are things for you?”

“Erica scared the police when they here, earlier,” he informs her. “They all have painted nails. I think one of them used to be in the military.”

Before she can ask if this is good or bad, Derek appears.

“Deucalion and I ran into each other last night,” she tells him. “He gave me something that might help our kanima search.”  


	5. Chapter 5

Yawning, Kate reflects, I’m not cut out for office work.

There’s a knock on the door, and she represses a groan. “Come in!”

“Hola, mi amiga.”

Grinning, she jumps up. “Juan.”

Looking down at her stomach, he positions his hand.

She nods.

Kissing her cheek, he lets the hand settle. “How is she?”

“She’s an active little thing. “’ve got the ultrasound in my purse. I’ll show you-”

He gently puts his hand around her wrist. “Maybe later.”

“Okay." She leans against the desk. “How are you and Trey doing?”

“Good. We ran into your wolf last night.”

“Derek?” At his nod, she muses, “I wonder what he was doing out.”

“From what I’ve heard, he never left the house when you were still there.”

“I can still kick your ass,” she warns. “And second, I was the only hunter around when I was living there.”

He shrugs. “Is there anything I can do?”

“We’re fine, Juan,” she promises. “Look, I have a client in ten minutes, but do you want to get a drink, later?”

“Sounds good. What time?”

…

There’s a gaggle of young, pretty women in the bar with men watching them, and Kate realises going to a place primarily serving alcohol when her alcohol intake is limited to one glass a wine on Sunday evening wasn’t a good idea.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” she answers. “How was that place I can never pronounce?”

Rolling his eyes, he says, “There’s a reason I came back, Kathlena.”

“Oh, crap,” she mutters. Setting her peanut milk down, she says, “Lay it on me.”

He looks around. “I haven’t told anyone, not even Trey. But I think some of them have found out about what happened in Mexico.”

“Of course." Taking a breath, she tells him, “Don’t worry. Some part of me has always known one of the lines I’ve crossed would be my undoing. Do yourself a favour, and if it is coming out, don’t let our friendship drag you down.”

He sighs. “I’m glad to know all we’ve shared means so much to you.”

“Don’t,” she warns. “I’ve saved your ass. If it weren’t for me, you’d literally be dead. When I do that for someone, it generally means I put their life above mine. I’d rather be dead than see them dead. Allison’s a survivor, and the baby can’t miss what she’s never known.”

“Those parenting class you’ve been taking are obviously crap.”

“Or I’ve been bribing people to do my homework and half-sleeping in class,” she jokes. Then, more seriously, she says, “Thanks for the warning. You’ve done all I want you to. Go home, Juan. Tell Trey he’s up to fifty dollars.”

“He’s never going to admit you were right.”

“And I’ll keep adding interest, and someday, he’ll be dead, and it’ll be up to you to pay his debt,” she retorts.

Leaning over, he kisses her. “I’ll see you, later?”

“Yeah, come over for dinner sometime. Chris has always liked you.”

…

She drives to the community college and waits for Derek’s class to be over.

When people start filing out, she goes in and pauses.

There’s a girl about Derek’s age talking to him and looking at him with a predatory look in her eyes.

Kate starts to slip out.

“Kate!”

Of course, momentarily forgot I’m dealing with a werewolf, she thinks as he bounds over.

Thankfully, the girl follows.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt. I’ll talk to you, later.”

“You weren’t interrupting,” he says.

It strikes her how- something it is one of the politest people she’s ever met can be so innocently insensitive.

“I’m Tamara Roderigo,” the girl offers. “You’re Derek’s,” she looks at Kate’s fingers, “girlfriend?”

She laughs. “No. Hi, I’m Kate Argent. My niece goes here with Derek. I thought I’d pick her up.”

“Scott has been picking Allison up since she started,” Derek informs her in a rather unimpressed tone.

“Right." Shrugging, she declares, “Pregnancy. It messes with the memory. Tamara, it was nice to meet you. Derek, if you need to cancel your study date with Allison tonight, I can relay the message.”

“No, that’s okay.” He grabs her wrist. “Is everything okay? I can-”

“Sweetie, it’s adorable how concerned you can be, but there’s no need. I’ll see you later.”

…

During lunch, she goes over to Derek’s.

“Did you ask Tamara out?”

“No,” he answers. “She asked me out, but I declined.”

Groaning, she glares at him. “I’m torn between hurting you and laughing at your use of the word ‘declined’. Why, Derek? You’re an incredibly attractive, young man, and she was pretty. She liked you. Surely, your werewolf senses could tell you that.”

Shrugging, he looks down at his tea. “She isn’t my type.”

“Okay, look, if you’re gay, that’s fine. But unless that’s the case, you can’t possibly even know what your type is. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never dated. Never had a girlfriend. I mean, I guess you could be asexual, but I know you checked me out a few times when I wore a bikini to school, and you usually did it when no one else was around, so, I’m not sure how that would work.”

“You don’t particularly date, either,” he points out. “Why are you so insistent on Allison and I being involved with other people?”

“28 days was my longest bout of exclusivity,” she answers. “If only it had been during February, I could say I lasted a month. People like me, we’re built for sex and violence. I’m still a little afraid I’m going to end up being nominated for Worst Mother. People like you and my wonderful niece are built for stability and domesticity. And hey, in Allison’s case, me being so involved was a good thing.”

“What did you need to talk to me about?”

Steeling herself, she says, “You need to get over your protective streak when it comes to me. I’m a grown woman. When I don’t have a baby in me, I put myself in danger on a regular basis. I do things that may come back to bite me in the future. I’m grateful for you saving me in the woods. I don’t like what you and Allison did, but if the two of you hadn’t, this baby wouldn’t be. But it’s time for you to stop. Let me try to deal with things on my own, and if I can’t, look out for Allison and my daughter.”

“Tell me what’s going on,” is his response.       

“You’ve never asked if I’ve broken the code. The answer is yes. I have. And hunters take that kind of thing seriously. They won’t go after the baby, but if they’ve found out about it, I’m going to have to answer for what I did after the baby’s born.”

“What did you do?”

Standing up, she says, “Remember your promise, Derek. My girls need-”

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“Maybe I don’t want you to think badly of me,” she answers. “If you knew some of the things I did-” She trails off.

“But you think I’d still risk myself to protect you."

Hating the self-pity and other jumbled emotions going around inside her, she shrugs. “I never expected you to take that promise you made as a kid seriously. I never expected we’d still be friends after I shot your uncle in front of you.”

“You told me you came close to murdering your brother on a hunting trip and that the only thing that stopped you was concern for Allison.”

“Yeah." Sitting back down, she admits, “Honestly, thinking about it now, I don’t know what in the hell possessed me to tell you that. And if I’d stopped to think back then, your lack of reaction would have been worrying. Now, I’m more-or-less resigned to never figuring you out, Hale.”

“I’m not that complicated."

Closing her eyes, she counts.

When she opens them, he’s still sitting there and watching her closely.

“I killed innocent people. Some of them were children.”

“Did you have a choice?”

She let out a bitter laugh. “The thing is, yeah, I did. But try telling that to me back then. There was a kitsune. She was powerful, hell-bent on hurting people, and personally pissed me off. I believed she had to be taken out as quickly as possible, and I saw an opportunity. Said opportunity involved going through innocent people. For years, I held onto my belief that what I did, while not great, was noble in its own way. Now, I think about all the ways I could have done things better.”

“I’ll always try to do what’s best for Allison and the baby,” he tells her. “But I won’t promise to not try to protect you while you’re here. I can’t.”

“Yes,” she insists, “you can.”

“If you want me to lie, then, yes, I can.”

“I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t think this conversation is over.”

“I’d never be that naïve."

…

“How did you find out the hunters might know?”

“Juan,” she answers. “You met him a night or two ago. He and I go back.”

“Where does Chris fit in with all this?”

She sighs. “The thing is, Chris loves me. He’s gotten to a point where he might like me. However, he has an unshakable moral core, and killing innocent humans, especially children, without a damn good reason- For Allison’s sake, he probably wouldn’t pull the trigger. For her sake, he might beg the ones who did to lie to her and let me have a funeral befitting a fallen hunter.”

At his look, she kicks him. “Remember Peter? What do you think your mom would have done if one of her pack had killed innocent humans?”

“I had blue eyes,” he reminds her.

“That was Peter’s doing. But okay, if she’d done something about him, you and your baby sis wouldn’t be on the outs right now. Tell me, Derek, as much as we both hate the thought, if Erica or Isaac or Boyd or, worse of all, Cora went darkside, and I wasn’t here, would you really let them live? Or like Chris, would you do what was right, no matter what the emotional cost?”

“Your analogy is flawed,” he informs her. “If I found out years later they’d went darkside but weren’t currently a danger to anyone, I wouldn’t kill them.”

“I’m always a danger, sweetie."

“Not to innocent people.”

Remembering the bar, she says, “Don’t be so sure.”

“Oh?”

“Pregnancy hormones." Looking at her watch, she continues, “Okay, well, I still have about two months before I need to worry about you and the hunters and my potential death. About this Tamara girl- what makes you so sure she isn’t your type? Do you like someone else?”

“Would using a Star Wars analogy help me here?”

“Probably not,” she answers. “I watched the movies with Allison when she was little. Chris didn’t appreciate the fact I loved Darth Vader and Hans Solo. I especially loved the latter before he became completely in love with Leia.” 

“Is that all you took away from the films?”

“I had conflicted feelings about the bikini scene.”

Shaking his head, he looks down. When he looks back up, he asks, “Has there ever been someone you liked well enough? They seemed nice, they were attractive, and you didn’t object to spending time with them. And maybe you had someone you liked better, or maybe you didn’t, but when it came to that person- you just knew that you liked them well enough?”

“Oh, yeah,” she sighs. “That- that’s basically the story of my life when it comes to men.”

There’s silence for a moment.

“Fine, I’m dropping the subject. Just, I don’t know, make sure you aren’t deciding that about people because it’s easier than taking a risk.”

“Okay,” he agrees.

As they stand up, he reaches over to help her with her jacket, and she involuntary shivers when he touches her hand.

“Kate?”

“You know the drill." She slips the jacket on. “Hormones.”

“Is that why you haven’t been around much when I’ve been teaching Isaac, Erica, and Boyd to spar?”

Kate means to make a quip.

“Yeah,” she finds herself answering instead. “Be a gentlemen and give me an out here, Derek.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

His hand is around her wrist, and she knows it’s not stopping her from leaving.

She knows, for all she’s done to him and for him and with him, there are lines she’s never tried to cross, because, he might be 24, now, but he was once a sleepy 16-year-old kid she took out of school without permission, loaded into her car, and led by hand. She’s never wanted to truly hurt him, but this doesn’t mean she hasn’t thought of all the ways she could. She knows she could have done almost anything when she was alone in the swimming room with him in such a state, she could have driven him anywhere, and she could have led him anywhere.

Maybe he knew and still trusted her despite everyone from his uncle to her herself telling him wolves shouldn’t trust hunters, or maybe, he was just a sleepy, careless kid, but the only other person who’s ever given her unconditional trust in such a way is Allison, and he’s always known more about her than Allison ever has.

“Look,” she puts her hand on his wrist, “this world says girls have to be pretty or they’re worthless, and the dichotomies when it comes to female sexuality goes much deeper than virgin and whore. Maybe I shouldn’t, because, there are times I really hate this world, but I tell my beautiful niece she’s gorgeous all the time and go on about her breaking a million little boys’ hearts. I’m not above putting on a sexy dress and hitting the bars and clubs when I want an ego boost, and there have been times I’ve let a guy take me home just because that was preferable to trying to find a good motel for the night. Now, I’m pregnant, and sometimes, I miss the sexy dresses and ego boost. Sometimes, I just flat out miss the sex.”

He starts to say something, but she continues, “I know you had a crush on my when you were little, and I know you’re still very attached to me. That doesn’t stop the fact that you truly have grown up in all the right places, and sometimes, especially now, I react to that.”

“If you want an out, I won’t stop you,” he says. “But don’t try to give me one. I don’t want it.”

“What? That doesn’t even make any sense.”

He moves his hand. “I know a relationship wouldn’t work. You’re going to have the baby soon. I’m trying to fix things with Cora. You’re beautiful, Kate. You always have been. When I was sixteen, I knew you were beautiful, but your personality overwhelmed that. You were scary, and then, you were confusing, and then, it seemed as if you had all the answers to the most important questions. Now, you’re still all three, but you’re a beautiful woman, and if I had a chance to go to bed with you, I’d take it in an instance.”

She studies him.

As far as she knows, Derek has never lied to her; she doesn’t have a baseline.

She knows when he’s nervous or uneasy; she learned those tells quick.

Looking at him now, he seems expectant but calm. There’s a hint of something in his eyes.

“Okay,” she says. “But seriously, if you find someone you really like, go after them. Take the risk.”

“I will,” he promises.

Carefully, she brings her hand to his face. When he doesn’t move, she leans over slowly and kisses him.

A jolt goes through her when he responds.

…

They get to the bedroom before she remembers she’s technically on lunch break.

Putting a hand on his chest to stop him, she says, “Chris. I need to call him, or he’s going to freak out. And probably give me a lecture.”

Nodding, he steps back, and she calls.

“Hello?”

“Hey, big brother,” she greets. “Derek and I are working on something, and I don’t know when I’ll be back in.”

“Okay. But everything’s okay?”

“Never better. Love you. Bye.”

Hanging up, she tosses the phone aside and pulls Derek over by his belt loops. “Where were we?”

Trying to get his shirt off as he kisses her neck, she feels his hands slide down to the buttons of her jeans.

…

A large part of her regrets not doing this years ago.

She feels free and carefree in a way she hasn’t in a long time, and her body is full of delicious energy.

For his part, Derek is looking at her with a sated, warm expression.

Laughing, she sits up and leans down to kiss him. “After that, I need something to eat. What do you have around here?”

“I’ll bring you something,” he offers.

“Okay. I’ve always loved breakfast in bed. Let’s see if a mid-afternoon snack is just as good.”

Stealing another kiss, he hops out of bed.

…

Allison is working on her homework when she hears a crash.

Jumping up, she grabs her withdraws her Chinese ring daggers and calls out, “Melissa? Scott?”

“Run, Allison! Run for help!”

Feeling her heart jumping painfully, Allison runs towards the voice.

She finds Melissa lying on the floor.

Before she can get to her, the kanima appears and tries to take a swipe at her.

Slashing it, she manages to sidestep.

Then, she hears, “Mom, Allison, I’m home!”

Running for Scott, she tries to push him out. “You have to leave, now. Go to the police station.”

“Allison- what-”

He stumbles, and she tries to catch him.

A sharp pain goes down her back, and she finds herself stumbling.

Scott slips out of her arms and hits the floor.

The Chinese ring daggers clatter against the floor.

She tries to reach the wall and use it to keep herself up, but she finds herself facedown on the floor and unable to move.

Then, suddenly, the ominous sound of clink-click fills the house.

No, she think. Scott. Melissa. Aunt Kate. Mom and Dad.

No.

_Clink. Click. Clink. Click._

A shadow falls over her.


End file.
